Monument Type(s):

• CHURCH (12th century to 16th century - 1100 AD to 1599 AD)

Summary

A late 12th century church/chapel of ease, with 15th/16th century alterations, which is protected by Grade II* Listing.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA5950 - 2005 WB on pipe trench at St Martins Church, Little Ness
• ESA6494 - 1995 WB on two soakaway pits and associated trenches at St Martins Church, Little Ness by SCCAS
• ESA844 - 1961 field observation by the Ordnance Survey

Description

Chapel of ease. Late C12 with C15 or early C16 alterations. Restored and porch and vestry added in 1878. Dressed red sandstone with ashlar dressings. Machine tile roof. Nave and chancel in one with south porch and north vestry. Battered plinth to east and west and parapeted gable ends with plain copings. Integral gabled ashlar bellcote to west with 2 trefoiled ogee openings, pilasters to sides with gables above, and cross at apex. South side: 2 identical windows, C15 or C16 to left and c.1878 to right; 3 cinquefoil-hooded lights and panelled tracery, moulded reveals and straight-sided arched heads. Restored round-arched south doorway to left consisting of one order of shafts with scalloped capitals, chevron ornament to outer arch and hoodmould with carved head above; C19 nail-studded boarded door. Gabled timber framed porch with chamfered stone plinth, cinquefoil arched entrance, brackets supporting wall plates and trefoil-headed side lights. Open truss inside. North side: buttress to centre with chamfered offsets. C19 window to right of 3 cinque foil-headed lights and panelled tracery, moulded reveals and straight-sided arch. East end: window of 3 cinquefoil-headed lights (the centre ogee) with panelled tracery, moulded reveals and hoodmould with carved heads as stops. West end: C19 double-chamfered lancet with hoodmould. Vestry: chamfered plinth, lean-to roof and integral lateral stone stack with chamfered offsets and cornice to chamfered cap. Square window to front of 2 trefoil-headed lights with hollow-chamfered reveals, window to east of 3 trefoil-headed lights with steps down to chamfered-arched crypt doorway below, and chamfered-arched doorway to west and double-chamfered reveals, moulded arch, hoodmould with lozenge-shaped stops, and boarded door with strap hinges. Interior: probably C17 four-bay roof with moulded wooden wall plate. Arched-braced collar trusses and continuous slightly-ogee chamfer. Second truss from west with C19 cusping, and hammerbeams with cusped brackets. Third truss from west with billet-ornamented tie-beam, collar, struts and painted wooden rood of 1927 with canopy. Collar trusses against east and west walls. 3 moulded purlins to each side. All windows (except for east window) with chamfered rear arches. North doorway to vestry with chamfered arch, hoodmould with lozenge-shaped stops, and boarded door with strap hinges. Blocked C12 round-arched doorway or window to left (see straight joints). Fittings: early C16 German triptych set in late C19 carved wooden frames. C17 or late C19 later seventeenth-century style alter rails with large turned balusters and moulded handrail . Late C19 eagle lectern. Late C19 Jacobean-style polygonal wooden pulpit with carved panels. Late C19 wooden pews. C19 circular red sandstone pulpit with rope moulding dividing tapered bowl and base, and C19 iron-bound wooden cover. Pair of C18 brass chandeliers in chancel. Reset medieval floor tiles in sanctuary and porch. Some fragments of C15 stained glass in north window and C19 stained glass in other windows. Saint Martin's has always been chapelry of Baschurch. There is a motte (county A.M. number 1100) to the south-east of the church. B.o.E., p. 169; D.H.S. Cranage, An Architectural Account of the Churches of Shropshire, Part 9, pp .772-3; Kelly's Directory of Herefordshire and Shropshire (1900), p. 156; P.A. Parott; Little Ness. The Story of a Shropshire Parish (1935), pp. 48-9. <2>

A late Norman chapel with original round arch to south doorway and other slight traces of Norman detail. The rest is Perpendicular and modern. <2a>

From the 1995 revised Scheduling description for the motte immediately to the south of the churchyard: ->

-> St Martin's Church, to the north west of the motte, now stands in an oval churchyard enclosure which adjoins the motte at its SE end. The churchyard lies along the line of the hill and has maximum dimensions of 64m NW-SE by 40m transversely. Although there are now no traces of any surface earthworks, the churchyard wall is believed to follow the line of the castle bailey boundary. Although the archaeological stratigraphy in this area is of considerable significance to the [motte and bailey], the generations of grave cuts in the interior of the churchyard will have greatly disturbed it <4>

A watching brief was carried out in 2005 on a trench which was excavated for a new water pipe to connect to the vestry of St Martins Church, Little Ness. Following consultations, a route was chosen for the pipe trench that seemed least likely to encounter archaeological deposits or structures running through the field at some distance west of the motte and around the churchyard to a point on the north side. The pipe trench was excavated in two stages, by archaeologically supervised JCB across the field and by hand within the churchyard. No archaeological features were found, other than a ceramic drainpipe. No artefacts were seen or recovered. <5>

The groundworks at the northeast corner of the church revealed a possible yard surface of sandstone fragments and cobbles beneath 0.3m depth of topsoil. Fragments of brick and tile associated with this possible surface suggested a late eighteenth- or nineteenth-century date for this feature. This surface immediately overlay the natural glacial drift subsoil, which consisted of gravel and pebbles in a dark brown sandy matrix. At the southwest corner of the church, a thin layer of topsoil (0.1m thick) overlay a layer 0.15m in depth of greyish brown silty sandy loam, which had the appearance of being relatively recent made ground. This in turn overlay a layer 0.25m in depth of darker brown loam, probably the original topsoil. Beneath this was the natural sandy gravel and pebble subsoil. No significant archaeological deposits or features were encountered during the course of the groundworks. <8>

Photograph taken 10th March 2015. <10>

Shropshire Archives hold a watercolour of Church of Saint Martin, Little Ness (Reference
6001/372/2/18), by Reverend Edward Williams, dated to 1790. A small-scale thumbnail can be found via their online catalogue: https://www.shropshirearchives.org.uk/collections/getrecord/CCA_X6001_19_372B_18 <11>

The church is still in use. <12>

Sources

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.